LATEST NEWS AND PROMOTIONS

NEW RISING STAR FAVOURITE (AGAIN)

The Rising Star merry-go-round continues to roll on, with Carlton young gun Patrick Cripps becoming the third favourite in three weeks with online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au.

The Blue has firmed from $7.00 into $4.00, leapfrogging former favourite Jesse Hogan who has drifted from $4.50 out to $5.50.

Over a third of all the money has been bet on Swan Isaac Heeney, but after missing another week he is out to $7.00.

Cripps is now the fifth player to be favourite for the award along with Hogan, Heeney, Nakia Cockatoo and Matt Crouch all having the honour since the market was opened last December.

In other AFL betting news:

· Nat Fyfe continues to dominate Brownlow betting, firming from $3.00 into $2.75. But two outsiders are keeping him honest with Marcus Bontempelli into $21 and Dylan Shiel into $26. Both were $251 prior to Round 1.

· Fremantle have jumped Sydney and now sit as outright second favourites at $4.50 for the flag, the Swans drifting from $4.50 out to $5.00. Hawthorn remain favourites at $3.60.

· It seemed no hope at the start of the season, but the Western Bulldogs are now almost a toss of the coin chance to play finals, priced at $2.25. They were as long as $10 prior to Round 1.

“With a new favourite every week, it could be the tightest Rising Star count for some time, but we are giving Cripps the nod to stop Carlton from singing the Blues,” said sportsbet.com.au’s Shaun Anderson.